Henri steven



ATENT Prion.

HENRI STEVEN, OF SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,531, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed September 8, 1897. Serial No. 650,922. (No model.) Patented in Belgium November 11, 1896, No. 124,705, and in France April 3, 1897, No. 262,596.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRI STEVEN, a subject of the King of Belgium, and a resident of San Sebastian, Spain, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Engines, (patented in Belgium November 11, 1896, No. 124,705, and in France April 3, 1897, No. 262,596,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to steam-engines, and has for its object to increase the efliciency thereof by preventing the condensation of steam during its expansion.

It is well known that in steam-engines the fall of temperature which occurs in the cylinder owing to the expansion of the steam cools the cylinder-walls and causes a considerable loss of heat. In order to avoid this fall of temperature, I heat or reheat the steam while it expands in the cylinder by introducing or injecting into said expanding steam a fluid of higher temperature than the steam which drives the engine.

Various mechanical means may be employed for carrying my invention into effect. In the accompanying drawings I have shown two constructions adapted for this purpose.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of one form of construction. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan thereof on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the superheated-steam distributer on an enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of another form of construction.

The specific constructions illustrated will now be described in detail and the novel features of the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 4, A indicates the cylinder, of any approved construction, having the ordinary steam-ports A A the slide-valve B, the expansion-valve C, the piston D, and piston-rod E. In addition to these usual parts the cylinder is provided at its ends with steamchannels A A communicating with steampipes F F.

As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the pipes F F are connected to a valve-casing G, said casing having a removable section G in order that the valve H, located therein, may be readily inserted and removed. The valve is arranged to move between two seats G G and is preferably constructed with an imperforate approximately cylindrical central portion and with spider-shaped end portions H, which are in guiding engagement with the Walls of the valve-casing. The central portion of the casing communicates with a steamsupply pipe I, a check-valve J being used to prevent the return of steam from the valvecasing into the supply-pipe. The latter is connected with a superheater, which may be made in the shape of a coil K, arranged in a furnace L. This furnace may form a part of the boiler-furnace when the engine is located near the boiler; but when the distance from the boiler to the engine is considerable it is preferable to employ a separate furnace adjacent to the engine for the superheater.

M is the pipe through which steam is conducted from the boiler to' the superheater, and N is a drain-cock at the lowest point of said pipe.

0 is a valve permitting of shutting off or regulating the steam-supply from the superheater.

-The operation is as follows: When steam enters the cylinder A through the port A,- it has also access to the pipe F and acts on the valve 11 to shift it from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the right, so that the valve will en-.

gage the seat G The pressure in the cylinder becoming less than that in the superheater in consequence of the expansion of the steam after the valve C has been closed the valve J will be lifted off its seat and superheated steam will pass from the coil K through the pipes I and F to the working end of the cylinderthat is, the end in which the steam is doing work. The steam admitted directly from the slide-valve chest will thus be heated by the superheated steam during the entire period the steam works expansively, and no detrimental condensation will take place. The economy of my invention will be obvious upon considering that much less heat is required to keep steam at a certain temperature, so as to prevent condensation, than to again convert the condensation water into steam. By my invention I preserve the initial temperature of the steam during the entire stroke of the piston and I may even, if desired, admit superheated steam in sufficient quantity to raise the temperature of the steam in the cylinder beyond the initial temperature;

. lated by properly adjusting the valve 0.

A simplified form of my invention is shown in Fig. 4:. The steam-pipes F F instead of being alternately connected with one and the same superheater (having its particular supply of steam) by means of a shifting valve, such as H, are each connected separately with superheating-coils K K in furnaces L L the coils having closed ends and no valves being used between the superheaters and the cylinder. In this case the steam to be superheated is a portion of the steam entering through the cylinder-ports A A said steam reaching the superheaters through the pipes F F. The operation will be substantially the same as hereinbefore described, the steam when superheated reentering the cylinder as soon as the pressure therein is decreased owing to the closing of the valve 0, and keeping the temperature of the steam in the cylinder constant or even increasing it.

In the form illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the valve J may be omitted when the steam admitted through the ports A A is sufflciently dry. Although the use of heated or superheated steam for the purpose of my invention affords the easiest and probably the most economical solution of the problem, I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the use of this heating agent, as many fluids, including air, might be employed instead of steam.

It will be understood that the cylinder A constitutes a Working chamber within which the gaseous main motive agent that is, the main working supply of steamworks first as live steam and then by expansion against the resistance represented by the movable piston D.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as nevvand desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The combination of the cylinder having,

ports for the admission of aheating medium, a heating device connected with said ports to supply a heated fluid thereto, and an automatic shifting valve for alternately admitting said heating medium to the ends of the cylinder.

2. The combination of the cylinder having ports for the admission of a heating medium, a heating device connected with said ports to supply a heated fluid thereto, a valve for alternately admitting said heated fluid to the ends of the cylinder, and a check-valve between the said valve and the heating device.

3. The combination of the cylinder having ports for the admission of live steam or the like, and additional ports for the admission of a heating medium, a heating device connected with said additional ports to supplya heated fluid thereto, and an automatic shiftin g valve for alternately admitting said heated medium to the ends of the cylinder, substantiall y as described.

4. The combination of the cylinder having ports for the admission of live steam or the like, and additional ports for the admission of a heating medium, a heating device eonnected with said additional ports to supplya heated fluid thereto, an automatic shifting valve for alternately admitting said heated fluid to the ends of the cylinder, and a checkvalve between the shifting valve and the heating device, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the cylinder or working chamber, the piston or movable resistance, a device for admitting a main motive agent to the cylinder, a cut-oflf for discontinuing the supply of the main motive agent,

and means for admitting a heating fluid into the cylinder and in gradually increasing quantity as the expansion of the main motive agent progresses, after the supply of the main motive agent has been out oif.

HENRI STEVEN.

Witnesses:

OARLos GBERO, EUsEBIs EZCURDIA.

ICO 

